Harmonious Dwelling. Part 4: Paraterraforming is Harmonious Terraforming

    One of the most important things that I have remarked in this series is that human activities, despite often being exploitative and destructive in essence, are nonetheless natural processes since we are a part of nature.  Nature tends to be harmonious, as many Pre-Socratic philosophers often observed.  Destructive forces rise and disappear, making way for creative forces.  A close examination of biotic processes on Earth show that death leads to life and life leads to death:  trees die, decompose and feed new trees; animals die and provide nourishment for other animals.  Forest fires clear the brush and activate seeds, giving way to new seedlings.  It is true that humanity’s current path has a very strong destructive element, but this destruction will inevitably lead to a renewal and creative element.  The question is… will this creation take place after our own destruction?  Or shall we adjust our destructive habits before we ourselves are destroyed and choose to be the agents of creation? 
It is no longer far-fetched to say that we can create new worlds and expand the beauty of life to other parts of the universe, nor is it far-fetched to say that we are capable of changing our destructive path here on Earth.  I argue that in order to accomplish the creative we must learn how to end the destructive before it destroys us.  Terraforming will not work as an escape from our problems, for we will only bring our problems with us.  It will only work as a creative project stemming from a respect for natural harmony: for just as a rock will crumble away in the swift currents of a river, all that is disharmonious will crumble away, including human beings in their current relationship with Earth.  The greatest advance in terraforming research would be to discover harmonious lifestyles and implement them on Earth, for how do we expect to create a new world if we do not even know how to live in this one?  We must find a way of living harmoniously, and then we must find a way of bringing the harmony of life to other places, since this too is the way of nature.  All things living give birth to new life, so it should not be any different with the living Earth.
It seems that, at least based on current models, terraforming an entire planet would not be harmonious with the ways of nature, for it involves processes such as detonating nuclear weapons on the planet, crashing asteroids into the planet, creating huge greenhouse gas factories… the very processes that are most threatening to our existence here on Earth!  These kinds of approaches are examples of what I am referring to when I say that we live lifestyles inharmonious with nature.  These are the very things we need to change.  This idea of utilizing the runaway greenhouse gas effect is, in my opinion, ridiculous, considering how minimal our control over this effect on Earth is. 
If all that I have said is true about the problems of current terraforming models, then either new models resulting from technological and scientific advances will have to arise in order for terraforming to be a feasible project.  There is however an alternative model already present in scientific journals and science fiction: the paraterraforming model.  As I explained in the first section, paraterraforming does not attempt to alter the entire planet by means considered destructive here on Earth, but rather leaves the extraterrestrial environment mostly as it is (except for a small area) and replicates Earth’s environment inside a “world-house” structure (Taylor 421). 
Paraterraforming is not only the most harmonious approach to planetary engineering, it is also an opportunity to learn how to live harmoniously in and with nature.  I say that it is the most harmonious approach because it relies on dwelling in nature and not dominating nature.  All animals dwell in nature and survive, but only we have treated nature as our slave or our storehouse.  The concept of dwelling is much more appealing because it reflects the fact that Earth’s biosphere has existed for millions of years before humans came into the picture.  We are merely dwellers in this place, and to try to dominate it will surely lead to our own downfall.  By engineering a confined replica of Earth’s natural biosphere in a place where no indigenous life exists, we are not harming nature but dwelling within nature and in a way that allows us to better understand nature’s natural harmony.  In this confined, smaller replica it shall be much easier to see how important ‘eco-friendly’ practices are to our survival: if we start detonating nuclear warheads, burning oil, or making and throwing out synthetic products like Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and Styrofoam in such a small area, the consequences will be felt immediately.  In this way can paraterraforming show us how serious a situation we have been creating for ourselves and lead to a more harmonious relationship with nature.
The benefits of paraterraforming can be seen in current “world-house” projects here on Earth, such as Columbia University’s Biosphere II project in Arizona (Harris). The Biosphere II project gives us an opportunity to see how natural processes would occur independently of the current, destructive human processes.  Such an opportunity is not possible through examining Earth itself, since human processes are an intrinsic part of Earth that cannot be removed for research.  This is the best way to gain insight into the effects of our current ways of living.  What can be realized from this project is that “protecting and restoring Earth's balance doesn’t have to mean shutting down human society--just making more intelligent and informed choices about humanity's role in the complex systems that sustain life” (Harris).
Aside from these benefits, paraterraforming on Mars or some other planet also preserves most of the planet’s original environment and provides a facility from which researchers can operate.  The research yielded from the original extraterrestrial environment can give us clues to further understand our own planet’s origins, clues that would be rendered inaccessible if we were to alter the entire planet through terraforming.  These clues can also help us understand the natural harmony of Earth. 
Paraterraforming is also more appealing to those people who feel that the preservation of extraterrestrial processes as they are found is an ethical obligation.  While it is true that a certain level of interference will occur by building “world-houses”, such interference is minimal compared to that of terraforming and also helps to preserve our own natural equilibrium here on Earth through the research accomplished in these facilities.